


Redeemed (Haikyuu x Zombie!Reader)

by ASCII_48



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, the usual haikyuu gang is here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:54:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22939006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ASCII_48/pseuds/ASCII_48
Summary: Who knew that you can still find love even after death?
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Reader, Kageyama Tobio/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	1. Exhumation

There was a fire scathing your bones.

It flooded your senses with smoke and fear, teetering between threatening to tear apart your body from your skin down to your bones or simply burn it entirely to a crisp. Both outcomes were equally as painful. Your fingers rapidly twitched, desperate to break free out of their burning prison. Vaguely, you could feel your shoulder try wretch itself out of its socket.

Screaming so loud that something popped in your jaw, time slowed down to an excruciating crawl. Once or twice as a child, you'd have the standard nightmares that every little kid has. Stuff like monsters in the dark, creepy clowns, drowning... all that jazz. Only this time, this wasn't any childish nightmare, you were smothered in darkness. You were going to die. Your arms flailed around like a struggling baby bird, sifting through stiff but crumbling material. But it wasn't much use considering the darkness continued to envelop your entire body. Plus, your mouth was ever-so-slowly being filled with tasteless mush and your stomach felt like a cannonball had been shot through it. Not fun.

Regaining your thoughts amongst the panic, you decided to try to forcefully make your way through the darkness. It seemed to be movable so possibly there was a way out. The moment you began, your fingers sank into nothing, your dark surroundings refusing to help you in the slightest. It wasn't going to be easy, but Y/N knew that she'd be damned if she were to die like this. Using your searing pain as energy, you clawed away at the disintegrating darkness, not caring when your fingernails threatened to fall off or when your fingertips began to burn. 

The darkness, however, was beginning to feel a bit more kneadable under your peeling fingertips. More... moist? 

Well, it certainly wasn't enough to put out the internal hellfire inhabiting your body. You could even feel the beads of sweat forming across your hairline. You continued pushing through, dragging your hands up and pushing them upwards in a breaststroke-like motion. 

Finally, after eons of work, something changed in your surroundings. You weren't underwater, but the darkness had become _wet_. You felt squirmish, your clothes and hair are most definitely ruined. 

Your ears suddenly pricked up, there was a thundering coming from up above. _'Do I have to climb up into Hell?'_ you asked yourself, finally finding a bit more grip. _'They could've at least provided a ladder or something...'_

You stretched your arm forward, ready to haul yourself up again when you realised you didn't feel anything to grab onto. Instead, all you could feel was the downpour of rain and billows of cold wind flying past your hand. That was all you needed to resurrect your inner spirit. You scrabbled and tore away the remaining scraps of darkness in your vision and...

There was a white light. A white snap that temporarily blinded your eyes. 

It was only a split second before it disappeared but its silhouette lingered as an imprint in your eyes for a long time.

You sunk your hands into the firm, stable surface underneath you, to say you felt just alleviated would be an understatement. You rolled onto your side, coughing up black particles and gasping for the more of the cool air. Rain pounded your eardrums and flattened your clothes, you thought that you might catch a cold later.

Rising darkness slowly consumed the edges of your vision, numbing the continuous burning feeling with exhaustion. You gave in to it, thinking it was an easy escape from your pain and horror. The world faded to black, the rain dwindling to a quiet patter and eventually into silence.  
\---

Your H/C-locks were tickled by a cool, morning breeze. 

Fluttering open your eyes, you were instantly met with an overbearing golden light. However, this was different from the piercing white light you had encountered. That light was powerful, angry with the intent to tear you to pieces. 

This light was comforting, like a mother holding a child. It was warm but not burning, bright but it didn't strain your eyes with its form. You loved it, you wanted to lay surrounded by this forever, not that wet darkness which enclosed itself upon you. This feeling felt familiar to you. 

You pulled yourself up, wanting to feel more of the light's warmth. You opened your eyes, fighting away the last of your exhaustion. Averting your eyes from the brightness, you began to look at your surroundings.

A pristine grey slab of stone stood in front of you, flowers dotting the edges where it met the ground. You looked to its left, there stood another slightly crooked one with moss covering it. To its right, stood a taller block of granite, sticks of incense faintly peeking around it. 

You scrambled up, peering over the grey slab to reveal rows upon rows of similar stones varying in size and colour. Surprisingly, and maybe it was due to the warmth of the sun, you felt a strange sense of ease seeing the empty tranquillity of the graveyard. 

But all that changed once you looked down, 'Oh my god.' you whispered to yourself. 

Your clothes were caked to the brim in mud and dirt. Ew. 

You began to roughly brush down your tattered navy dress. You didn't remember owning something like this. The dress' ruffles were ripped, loose seams floated like chimes in the breeze and the straps were dangerously close to tearing apart. Anyway, this type of dress wasn't even the kind of style you liked to wear! Usually, you'd never be caught dead in something like this. You made a mental note to burn the dress when you next got the chance.

While fixing your dishevelled hair, you noticed next to the pile of dirt (and dangerously close to a small puddle) was a beaten-up looking flip-phone. Feeling a sense of familiarity, you picked it up and turned it on. _8:40, Wednesday, 27th October_ sprawled itself across your screen with no new messages or anything. You couldn't help but feel a little hurt at the sight. 

Claiming the phone as yours, you stuffed it away in a pocket. Once you'd run out of things to do, it suddenly occurred to you the question of _why_ you were in the middle of a cemetery. What had you last been doing? Did you sleepwalk? Were you supposed to be dead? Your memory was really failing you right now. 

Without your memories, the urge to seek help suddenly overwhelmed your system. You began stumbling downhill to the black gates, the last wisps of embers seeped out of your legs. The sun spilled over you from behind, creating a blackened silhouette of you. Light spilled amongst the gravestones, making you think of the opening to a horror game. _'Let's just hope I'm not trapped in one.'_ You silently hoped. 

Pushing apart gates, you peeked your head out. Nobody was around, even the road was eerily quiet. You scoffed, _'I thought at least someone would come for me. Fake friends.'_

Marching down the street, you soon realised you were in unfamiliar surroundings. Pedestrians made haste across the crosswalk like automatic robots while drivers impatiently tapped the steering wheel of their mini cars. When you walked past a grocery store, the doors automatically slid open and faint music spilled outside. You took in a deep breath, above the diesel, roasted beans wafted towards you. Your mouth watered, shame you didn't have any money on you or you would've bought a hot drink to warm your freezing hands. 

What you did have though, was your small red flip-phone. Surely someone would pick up. You scrolled down through your contacts, eyeing the somewhat familiar names that appeared, but came to settle on your parents.

...

... 

_'We're sorry but this cellular network is no longer supported. Please contact your service provider.'_

You hung up and looked at your phone as if it were an alien. _'That's weird. I wonder if maybe my phone had bad signal?'_ You waved your phone around, trying to catch the 'signal particles'.

_'We're sorry but this cellular network is no longer supported. Please contact your service provider.'_

_'Are they not home? Maybe I'll try mum's cellphone...'_

_'We're sorry but this cellular network is no longer supported. Please contact your-'_

_'No. No no no no. Nononononononono.'_ Panic gripped you. If your phone couldn't help you now then, what would? The sights and sounds on the street warped into something more overwhelming, something that made your breathing all too heavier. Sprinting down the street, you desperately tried to make sense of the colourful shops around you and pinpoint something, anything that was familiar. 

Your eyes settled on a distant white rooftop that oddly stood out amongst the other cream and grey businesses. You didn't know what it was, it could've been an abandoned factory for all you knew. But whatever it was, your gut feeling combined with overwhelming panic begun pulling you in that direction. Well, at least you had somewhere to go. 

\---

Even the walls couldn't contain the intensity the energy radiated from inside. 

You stood alone in the lobby, staring curiously at what lay behind two navy blue doors. Right now, a strange sense of nostalgia had overtaken the fear in your body. Every pale green couch and row of sports bags oozed the familiarity you sought. Even the weird, moon-like artwork that hung on the wall almost made you begin laughing like a child, although you didn't know _why_. 

Tired of listening to the periodic cheering, you finally pulled apart the doors to be greeted with silence. 

Although you didn't have a sixth sense, you felt something else skimming the crowd of black uniforms. Tension? Suspense? You couldn't pinpoint what it was but the hairs on your arms slowly began to raise themselves. 

You made your way down to the railing of an empty lot of seats, watching as a silver-haired boy lined up to serve the ball. Below you sprawled a large court, a thin net dividing two drastically different coloured uniforms. You didn't get to closely examine each member as a whistle signalled for the boy to serve. 

The ball soared over the net into the arms of one of the turquoise-uniformed members. The way each player moved around the court was hypnotising, like some strange form of telekinesis, everyone seemed to know what their teammate was thinking. They coordinated themselves easily, each movement was carefully thought out. Like they were fully confident in themselves and the others around them. You didn't know why a small pit in your stomach opened up. 

Trying to shake away the feeling, you looked over to the opposite team. Donned in dark colours, they tried to mirror their opponent's moves. But each step, each slight signal to their teammates could not replicate the ease and dexterity the other team possessed. Instead, they held an aura of controlled chaos. Their members ran unpredictably around the court into calculated positions. You were in awe, they created a unique kind of beauty with their playstyle.

But what really caught your eye were the two that went against the momentum. 

Simultaneously following his teammates and carving his own path, a glimpse of orange hair darted around the court like blazes of lightning. He darted forward, flocked amongst the dark uniforms, and pressed his heels into the flooring. 

The cheers from around you couldn't penetrate your bubble, he had managed to capture your attention. You watched the boy fly into the air. 

His form, his expression, the way he managed to ricochet the ball of his opponent's fingers...

You didn't realise you were still staring at him well-after the fact that the point was won. Blood rushed back into your white knuckles, you didn't even realise that you had momentarily stopped breathing. You watched as the black team collided into each other with a hug, their respective cheering squad also in over-excited shambles. 

Yet a stray thought voiced itself, _'The name of that team... I've heard it before...'_

Without any command, your legs moved to the door looking for the team. The navy doors swung apart, you were stranded in the centre of the lobby. Masses of bodies pushed past one another, wisps of conversation about the victory (or loss) passed your ears. While looking over the sea of heads, you heard a gasp from underneath you. 

A little boy, no older than nine stared up at you with wide eyes. His mouth was agape like he was witnessing a ghost. You worried that he was going to pass out. In his hand was a paper poster, _Karasuno High School_ scrawled messily across it. "Miss, why are you in your Halloween costume so early?" came his squeaky voice. "There are still at least four days."

"Eh? What are you talking about?" You crouched down, eye level to the now slightly shaking boy. Was your face that scary? "A-are you okay?"

"Your e-eyes..." Even the poor boy's words begun to quiver. You guessed that maybe he was just intimidated by talking to someone older than him. You were about to ask him on his parent's whereabouts when a woman pushed past your shoulder, almost toppling you over. 

"Riku! I was just about to call the police!" She snatched him away, red nails digging into his chubby arm. "Wander off again and I’ll leave you here for good." Without sparing you a glance, she pulled his arm away despite his protests.

You sighed, _'Is it trendy to wear formal clothes on Halloween now?'_ you questioned, although you chalked it down to probably some new fad amongst the kids. Now you felt old, great. This fad must be pretty strange too, considering the weird stares you were receiving from passerbys. Once again, it must've been the formal clothing. 

You straightened up, resuming your search for the elusive black jackets. 

_'Over there!'_

A simple flash of the same kanji sent you sprinting to the front of the lobby. Yet once you reached there, you found that they were nowhere in sight. Cursing to yourself, you decided to do a lap of the gymnasium and if you didn't find anything, you'd give up and start thinking about heading home. So you did, you briskly walked past crowds of chattering students and eventually ended up behind the gym. Looking around, the parking lot was devoid of life but it was hard to feel unnerved considering you awoke in a graveyard. 

Perking your hearing, a groan of a single white bus came to life. You whipped around to meet the source of the sound, just as it was pulling out the gate. 

Of course, on the bus, you could see the outline of multiple black jackets.

"Hey! Wait!" You cried but to no avail. The bus was already pulling away and, although your legs were fast, you had no chance of catching the vehicle. As the bus disappeared into the sea of traffic, you found yourself standing in the parking lot, hands still reaching for the bus. You let them drop to your sides in defeat, _'Guess it's a sign that I should just go home.'_

\---

You dangled your legs off a bench, a cold bottle of iced tea was loosely held by your fingers. You'd spent all afternoon looking for a police station, yet you never seemed to come across one. When you asked the locals, all they did was turn the other way and scurry off. How rude. By now, the moon was beginning to float up above you and you began to think that you were homeless for the night. In front of you, the faint white light from a local store lit up the mostly empty laneway. 

Down the laneway, a pair of crows stared down a piece of bread under the spotlight of the streetlamp. As they circled it, you briefly thought that they were doing a strange form of the tango. 

Up the hill, you previously didn’t see anything interesting at all, aside from a stray cat. Yet now, just further in the distance, there was a large black shadow prowling towards you. And it was shouting, in many different voices. 

_‘Kids.’_ You rolled your eyes, _‘It must be another trend for groups to walk around in black jackets and to dye their hair orange... and to wear volleyball shoes...’_

The shock hit you like whiplash, what were the chances?! The iced tea slipped out of your hands and rolled under the bench, you tried to stop your hands from shaking at the sheer excitement coursing through your body. The intense feeling that you've seen the symbol somewhere before was stronger than ever and only increased once they came closer.

But your hands began involuntarily shaking. You felt like snapping them off once you realised what had come over you. 

You'd always been a little bit shy. 

When the group passed you, already your skin was crawling from the power and intimidation they exuded, even the tiny orange-haired boy. They burst into the store, making beelines to the icy poles and meat buns. Luckily, they didn’t seem to notice your shaken expression, you quickly looked down at your lap, letting your H/C cover your face. On the topic of your hair, you'd noticed earlier that it was oddly thin and dry. Maybe it was time for a change of conditioner.

A cluster of steps left the convenience store and scattered themselves in different directions. You scrambled up, trying to summon your depleting courage. You were going to talk to one of them, it was just a matter of _how_ you were going to.

Who should you talk to? Well, there was a blonde guy who would easily tower over you, so that was a no. Behind him stood a group of older teenagers, but one looked like a full-grown man. No thanks. You saw a monk and a young boy with porcupine hair heading down the hill, a strange combination. Finally, you were about to walk up and force yourself to talk to the boy with jet-black hair... if only he didn't turn around to show a deeply-etched glower on his features.

After most of them had left, you searched around for any signs of the orange-haired boy. You didn't see him leave with any of the others, so where was he? Disappointment filled your chest, you did genuinely want to meet him but you'd never been one to approach people first. 

You stood in the middle of the road, hands fumbling with one another. If he hadn't left the store with the others, then he's still inside. You'd just need to part the doors, take a quick scan of the place and you'd find him. You allowed yourself to take a deep breath, mentally-preparing for the awkwardness and cringe that lay ahead.

You were only two steps away from the bench before orange-hair stumbled out of the doors, dishevelled but excited. His head swung back and forth, looking for his long-gone friends. "Ah, damn it! I guess I took too long..."

There he was! The same boy who flew in the match, living and breathing right in front of you! Your mouth dried up, sweeping away your thoughts with the breeze. Why couldn't you just speak to him? 

"Um!"

Your voice rang out, loud and clear, a cold breath of air following it. His wide, orange eyes fell upon you, making your cheeks colour themselves red. Thank god it was too dark now, he could probably only barely see you. "I-I saw your game..."

Ew, now you sounded like a creepy stalker. Not to mention, you were still dressed in your "cosplay". You wondered what his honest thoughts of you were right now because opposite to him, you wanted to simply _die_. 

He continued to stare at you, nothing but shock played on his face. Oh god, he was probably thinking of ways to escape this situation...

"A-a fan?!"

You recoiled at the sound of his voice, "U-uh, yeah?". You began fiddling with your loose seams, mentally berating yourself for answering so suddenly. 

He began patting himself down until he gripped something in his pant's pocket. A few seconds later, he shot you a small grin before handing his cellphone to you. When you asked him what he was doing, he replied meekly, "Y-you're my first official fan." He clutched the yellow rectangle to his chest, "I mean if you want to come and watch our team practice then..." He trailed off, a hand scratching the back of his head.

Very briefly, you thought that it was a bad idea to go. What would you do? Just sit around awkwardly and watch a bunch of high schoolers go through drills? You didn't even know the boy's name! Looking back, you should've played the role of a good upperclassman and scolded him for talking to strangers so haphazardly.

But his face was so full of hope that you just couldn't bear to say no. For instance, even though it was nighttime, his eyes still seemed to sparkle with excitement, how could you turn him down? You sighed and took out your phone, maybe once you got back home tonight your parents would let you visit them tomorrow. They must be worried sick after all. 

His eyebrows shot up once he saw your ancient, battered phone but still keyed in his number. When he handed your phone back, his hand lingered against yours before reaching out to grasp it fully, giving it a firm shake. "T-Thank you for your support!" his voice wobbled. 

You stood dumbfounded as he took off on his bike, letting the darkness surround his flaming hair. You still didn't catch his name.

But there was a ghost of a smile upon your lips as you looked back down at your phone. Maybe there was a potential opportunity in this after all.

You tucked your phone away, you could feel a strong burst of energy pouring back into your bones. You'd better get looking for a place to stay for tonight. Maybe a park or something would be good, they have benches after all. You turned around, bracing yourself for whatever tonight and tomorrow may bring.

...

Your hair was yanked back, pulling your weight into the tight embrace of someone behind you. Instantly, your instinct to scream and thrash kicked in but was deterred by a cloth being crammed into your jaw. You begged your legs to try and trip the person behind but you soon found that they too were immobilised.

A pair of hands wrapped themselves around your flailing wrists, pinning them to you like placing a paperweight on a stray piece of paper. You screamed into the cloth, fighting to keep your eyes awake but its sweet-smell was tempting your mind to give in.

For the second time today, you gradually submitted yourself to the darkness. But this time, you knew two things were different.

First of all, there was no extreme burning sensation anywhere in your body. That's good. 

Secondly, a low voice breathed into your ear just before your eyes closed, "You're the perfect specimen."


	2. Passed Over

The scent of cedarwood floated around you, its clean, earthy scent filled your senses. Grains of sand parted for you as you stepped toward the cold, roaring waves. Your body was moving toward an unknown destination and your mind was powerless to stop it. The waves smothered you, trapping you under their immense power. As you were violently thrown under, you found you weren't scared. No smoke or fire was clawing away at your bones, there was no fear or pain. 

Just you and the ocean. 

After a minute of rolling with the pull of the waves, you felt yourself sinking, falling into oblivion. You had almost hit the bottom when you first heard the voice. It was muffled as if it were reaching out to you patiently. You pushed yourself off of the seafloor, looking around for its source but were met with the expanding darkness of the ocean.

The darkness held an unnatural familiarity. For the first time, fear began to coil itself in your stomach. 

The voice rang out again, clear, incomprehensible and directly behind you. You called for help and begun running toward it, your limbs dragged through the water. The pressure, the darkness, everything felt like it was _choking_ you.

Darkness kept on your heels as your body heaved itself toward the voice. You moved painstakingly slow, each step taking years to propel you forward. You could feel the darkness enveloping your legs, pinpricks appearing in the edges of your vision.

Is this how you were going to die? Underwater, choking and sucked away into the darkness? 

Your vision flickered to the surface of the water, its radiant gleam miles away. 

"Oi." The voice called down to you. "I can see you moving."

No shit. You resisted the urge to punch that voice.

"You're awake, aren't you?"

The air was knocked out of your lungs along with the suffocating darkness and water. That entire world you'd been in moments ago was stripped away in mere seconds. You found yourself sitting up, gasping for air, a cold shock rippled through your body. As your eyes adjusted to the light, you stared down at your firm knuckles clutching to white... bedsheets? Startled, your eyes travelled to your arms which were covered in scarlet silk. Ornate designs of lotus flowers and tessellating patterns decorated the garment, whoever made this had obviously put their entire heart and soul into it. You'd never worn something like it before, only someone truly _rich_ owned that sort of clothing. 

You must've looked starstruck because that same voice spoke up again.

"You really are alive."

A voice smooth as the silk you wore and deep like the darkness of the oceans came from a young woman sitting by the window. She couldn't have been any older than thirty. Her face was clear and smooth (you thought about asking her for her skincare routine), her firm blue eyes were fixed upon you and long black hair spilled down her shoulders. She too wore a beautiful silk kimono, its deep blue folds seemed to float in the air around her. 

When she turned towards you, the thin belt of corals dangling around her waist chimed softly in the quiet room. She carried a long kiseru pipe in her left hand, smoke wafted out the small opening at the top of the window. Beside her, a redwood table held a jug of water and a small clipboard. A black fountain pen rolled across it. 

To you, she looked like a princess.

"A miracle, evading the laws of this world." Her blue eyes squinted, "Tell me, what do you remember?"

You hesitated, unsure whether to trust her. You'd only woken up a second ago and were now being questioned. "I... uh..." The woman tilted her head, amusement flickering in her eyes. Oh well, if she was going to do something bad to you, she would've done it by now. "I was looking for my home..."

Then the memories slowly trickled in, one after the other. The fire, the panic, the match, an orange-haired boy. And of course, you remembered the pair of hands wrapping themselves around your wrists, a sickly sweet scent cast a sleeping spell over you. 

"Recent memories still intact." Her voice broke your recount of the events. When you focused on her again, she was still staring at you but something was moving on the redwood table. The fountain pen was standing up, busily scribbling words onto the clipboard.

Had you slipped back into a dream? Nothing was holding up the pen. 

But looking closer, there was a faint shimmer surrounding the pen and leading into the jug. A thin stream of water wrapped itself around the pencil, manipulating it freely. The princess, unbothered by this small action, continued to focus on you. "Do you remember last week, Y/N?"

A shiver passed through you, her blue eyes seemed much colder than before. "How do you know my name?" She held the pipe to her lips which were turned up in a smirk. A silence descended on the room, clearly, she wasn't going to reply. 

You didn't remember last week or anything before the searing fire. It didn't occur to you until now, but you weren't going to tell her that. Not when you could already sense her obvious ulterior motives. 

Maybe you should change the topic to break the silence. Like for starters, why did she kidnap you?

When you asked her this, the princess remained stoic but the pen carefully laid itself down. "You claim I kidnapped you when you should think of it as protection." Slowly she rose from the window ledge, careful to balance her pipe between her pale fingers, and came to stand at the end of the bed. "After all, if people realised what you are..." her eyes scanned you up and down, "You'd find yourself back where you started. And you wouldn't get out so easily."

You weren't shocked by her words, more confused than anything. She abruptly turned and left, carrying her clipboard and jug on a floating spread of water. Once you saw the tail ends of her kimono disappear, you quickly leapt out of bed, your leg getting caught in your kimono causing you to flop onto the floor. You huffed to yourself, luckily the princess didn't see you or she'd think you were a clumsy idiot. 

You pulled open the nearby closet, searching for something less fancy and more practical.

Something cluttered to the ground by your feet. Something heavy.

You crouched down to overturn the cold object, running your fingers over its cool ridges.

_A diamond necklace._

_One that covers the full neck._

Wherever you were right now, you were in the presence of a very strange (and very rich) being.

* * *

After you found some black shorts and a plain shirt, you made your way out of the bedroom and down a corridor lined with many shelves. Most of them contained shells and some had shells that contained plants within them. Aside from the bedroom you woke up in, every space in the house was cluttered, filled to the brim with plants, shells and other natural objects. 

Now you were standing in what was probably supposed to be the dining room, although the table was covered in scrap metal. On each chair sat a potted succulent, some overgrown and tangling themselves amongst the chair's legs. All of them seemed exceptionally healthy. 

You turned around in your place, taking in the microscopes, fish tanks and towering orchids. You felt as if you were somewhere else completely, a different world perhaps? 

No, you could still hear the faint murmur of traffic in the distance. 

The outside world suddenly piqued your interest. That princess might have 'saved' you or whatever but this place would never equate to the comfort and familiarity of your home. You headed for the door, noting the ivy leaves crawling across its frame. 

"Going somewhere?"

Of course, she'd show up again just as you were about to leave. You turned to meet her smirking face, pipe still lazily puffing out smoke. "Yeah, home." 

The princess' lips fell slightly, something similar to pity filling her eyes. With a flick of her wrist, a flowing bed of water flew over to you, circling you like a playful dog. Once it slowed down, you found it carried a mobile phone on top of it, much flashier than your beat-up thing. 

You hesitantly took it and the water soon disappeared into small droplets, filling the air with steam. You hoped the phone worked despite being pretty much doused.

"Remember this address." The princess chimed in. You were about to ask why when she answered it for you, "You've got nowhere else to go anyway," before exhaling a cloud of smoke. You wrinkled your nose but strangely you could only faintly smell the dirty scent. Cedarwood overpowered it. Seeing your shocked face, her lips returned to a taunting smirk, "you'll soon see what I mean."

You rolled your eyes. If you asked where the bathroom was she'd probably still answer in some cryptic message. Hand on the doorknob, you began to push open the door when a thought occurred to you. Quickly turning back, just as she was leaving the room, you called out, "What's your name anyway?"

She glanced at you, mysterious blue orbs meeting curious E/C ones. "Otohime." 

With that, you gave a satisfied nod and stepped out the door, into the bustling street. Pedestrians cast you curious glances as you turned and took a picture of the house (it took you a few minutes to figure out how to with this new, complex device). 

A small buzz from the phone startled you. A small rectangle popped up on the screen with the name, 'Hinata Shoyo'.

Otohime must've transferred all your contacts over, how kind.

You didn't recognise the name but they knew you. A little creepy, in your opinion. They asked if you'd like to attend their volleyball practice. 

Your mind stirred at the sight of the message and memories flashed in your mind. Yesterday, you'd met a boy from a volleyball match and gotten his number. The boy with flaming hair. 

Was this from him?

Well, most likely it was. It wasn't like any of your other friends had texted you recently. 

But there was something else lingering in the depths of your mind. Volleyball triggered this feeling, a strange type of nostalgia. The type that sends adrenaline through your veins whenever you remember it. You felt pumped but you couldn't place _why._

What was so special about volleyball?

You scoffed at yourself, you had few hobbies. You'd remember if volleyball was _that_ important to you. 

Your phone buzzed with a reminder that you hadn't replied to Hinata. You might as well visit his practice, you had the whole day to return home and you'd already been kidnapped so going to a strange place wasn't new to you.

A few more minutes later (and some chaotic fiddling with your phone), you brought up a map leading to Karasuno High School and began making your way there. 

The walk there felt like you were travelling through another world, bustling streets, flashing signs, people looking down at these strange new devices... You even saw a child playing on a massive rectangular gadget, poking and smiling at the colours and images on it. 

However, the closer to Karasuno you got, the more familiar your surroundings became. The laneway where you first met Hinata was now _slightly_ less empty. An elderly woman shuffled out of the convenience store while a group of preschoolers jostled against each other, wide smiles adorning their babyfaces.

Climbing the hill, realisation of where you were going hit you. You didn't know any of these people, not even Hinata, and suddenly you were going to watch their practice. Every outcome you thought of involved at least _ONE_ moment of painful awkwardness. 

Your feet carried you along the path while your eyes were distracted with the strangeness of the school building. It felt familiar, the tiny overarching clock and cherry blossoms triggered your nostalgia, buried memories trying to resurface. But at the same time, there were many things you didn't recognise, the odd architecture of the school, the dozens of lunch tables scattered across the campus and the gym you stood in front of.

You could already hear the thunder of running and yelling. Adrenaline buzzed throughout your body, just enough to overcome the dread of opening the doors. Taking a few deep breaths, you gripped the handles tightly and slid apart the gym doors, bracing yourself for whatever would happen. 

"Oh, she's here!"

There was a short scurry of footsteps in your direction and a small hand wrapped itself around your wrist. Memories of Otohime's steel grip almost made you flinch.

Tugging you forward was the flame-haired boy, Hinata Shoyo. "Guys! This is the girl I told you about!"

_"Oh! She's cute!"_

_"Noya-san, we've been blessed with another girl..."_

_"Hinata, you can't just bring a stranger to practice!"_

As the group of boys flocked to you, you were assaulted with a barrage of names and faces. While some of the boys were forcefully pried away from you, others kindly introduced themselves with a small bow and smile. 

Hinata pulled you by the arm to the supervisors, who were watching the situation unfold with amusement. As he explained your presence to them, you took a good look around the gym.

It was a standard school gym, small balcony overhead, big court and a stage at the very end of it. Nothing out of the ordinary. 

But your body told you otherwise. A small voice at the back of your head was desperately telling you to remember something. To remember why this gym felt so familiar. 

Interrupting Hinata, the man with dyed-blonde hair (presumably the coach) pulled his ringing phone out of his pocket. As he excused himself, a black-haired ~~beautiful~~ girl called for the shorter man (presumably a teacher), requesting help with something. 

"Uhm... stranger-chan..."

You didn't realise Hinata had let go of your arm until his voice piped up from behind you. He stood clutching a ball and staring at you with a curious gaze. "Do you play volleyball?"

"It's Y/N." You replied quickly and followed up by blurting out, "And yeah, I do."

You knew that you _didn't_ play volleyball. 

The boy perked up, testing your name out before flashing a wide grin. "Y/N-chan, do you wanna go through some drills with us?" 

Internally, you were ready to leave there and then. Watching a volleyball match is one thing but playing it is something else entirely. Despite your body's yearning to follow Hinata, your mind forced you to eye the floor carefully, fiddling with the edge of your shirt. Why were you stuck in so many predicaments recently? The thought tired you out, you just wanted things to be normal for a few minutes. 

"Y/N-chan?" Hinata's orange hair poked its way into the edges of your vision. "Are you nervous?" When you didn't reply, he prodded a bit more, "We'll go easy on you.". 

Maybe it was the teasing challenge in his voice, maybe it was the fatigue of feeling confused with everything happening around you but something pushed you to meet Hinata's eyes and follow him to the others. The closer you got, the more your body hummed with adrenaline. Your mind may have wanted you to leave but now, it felt _right_ to join the team - even if you didn't know anything about them. 

You followed the team around the court like a lost puppy, sticking close to Hinata at all times. He often leaned over to whisper facts about his team members. You learnt that the tiny Nishinoya is a powerful libero, that Tsukishima was a _huge_ prick but an intelligent middle-blocker and Sugawara was the mum of the team and Karasuno's original setter. The volleyball jargon simultaneously made sense and was utterly nonsensical to you, you kept nodding your head like a bobble-figure. 

As the captain called for a spiking drill, the team formed two lines with the setters going to the net. Hinata was still babbling about his teammates until he looked over at the net and winced. You followed his eyes to the boy standing near the net, hands ready to set. "Ah, looks like you're gonna be receiving a set from Kageyama-kun." Hinata mumbled.

Black-hair, sharp blue eyes and a frown plastered on his ~~good-looking~~ features, you shivered. Hinata had told you about Kageyama's prodigy setting skills and his fierce temper. Currently, he was glaring at you with an impatient scowl, you involuntarily shrunk back.

Sugawara seemed like the much friendlier option but you couldn't back away now, Kageyama would surely notice and probably take offence. Hinata patted you on the back, nervously telling you to do your best. 

It'd probably be important to note that you were about to "spike" a ball. Something you _never_ recalled doing. Your mind flared up your internal alarm, opposing your body's self-confidence as you reached for a volleyball. This is probably going to be the awkward moment you envisioned, the pinnacle of all your predicaments. 

There seemed to be no other way out of the situation, Hinata and Kageyama were watching you intently along with some other team members. If the universe was destined to embarrass you then you might as well get it over with. Taking a long deep breath, you took a few steps forward, tossing up the ball to Kageyama. 

As if reflex, everything seemed to fit perfectly into place. Your senses became more enhanced as you began to run. The number of steps it took before you had to jump, the point of contact Kageyama would make with the ball, the increasingly closer net... you knew you had to jump soon but let your instincts continue to drive your body forward. 

A sudden push into the ground sent you flying up in the air, the wind beneath your fingertips felt _glorious._ This was the climax of your adrenaline, the moment where everything had lead up to. Your eyes located the corner of the court as if a spotlight gleamed upon it, your target. 

You could sense that Kageyama had set the ball to you - and it was a _good_ set. Now all you had to do was finish the job. 

Pulling your arm back, you felt the tired stretch of your muscles. You weren't particularly buff in physique but you knew this spike was going to be _strong._

Like a whip, you struck the ball with as much force as possible. The explosive sound of contact rung throughout the gym. 

Followed by a shriek. 

As you fell, you noticed that your arm had become a lot more... lighter? A cold breeze slipped up through your shirt, to your shoulder and faintly you could see your arm growing longer. 

Were you tripping? 

No, but after seeing the outcome, you wished you were.

The ball crashed into the corner of the court, all according to plan. And it was a powerful spike, seeing as the gym remained quiet, possibly in awe.

But then the silence stretched... 

and stretched...

and stretched...

"HOLY SHI-"

The team had suddenly turned into a horde of banshees and the gym magnified their screeches. You went to cover your ears when you found you could still hear them and that your right ear remained uncovered.

Because when you looked down, there lay your S/C arm. 

You were about to join in with the screaming when swiftly you were surrounded and smothered by the group, effectively caging you in with their bodies. The man with dyed-blonde hair stood in the doorway with annoyance on his face. "Shut up! Someones gonna call the police on you." Narrowing his eyes, he found you trapped amongst the group, "And get away from her! You're making her feel uncomfortable." 

As he marched over to you, the surrounding boys (namely Sugawara, Tanaka, Nishinoya and Hinata) shuffled nervously. The arm lay still at your side and you did _not_ want to touch it. But seeing as this was an adult drawing closer, you had no other choice. 

Picking it up, you found that the arm slightly twitched in your grip. You suppressed the urge to puke. But as you held it in your left hand, you found it slowly inched up towards your shoulder. You lifted it, curiously holding it closer. The arm slowly moved forward, you felt your shoulder also instinctively move down towards the severed part. 

"Oi!"

Sugawara and Tanaka reluctantly moved apart as the blonde-haired man stormed through. "Can you leave the poor girl alone?" He turned to you, the irritation dissipating into concern, "Are you okay?"

Behind him, you could see Sugawara and Tanaka's jaws drop open. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."

You weren't fine. Your heart was beating so fast that you felt light-headed, you swore you could even feel the blood rushing through your head. 

You just reattached your arm. 

After it fell off.

"I-is there a bathroom around here?" You stammered out, clutching your arm as if it'd fall off again. The man looked down at you with an eyebrow quirked, it was obvious he knew that something was amiss.

"Yes!" Hinata clutched the back of your shirt, his hands visibly shaking as he did, "I-I'll show you there!" The two of you walked stiffly out of the gym, sprinting to the bathrooms as soon as you were out of view.

The two of you quietly sped through the school hallways, the silence was filled with thousands of questions - not all of which you could answer. 

Coming to a gradual stop outside the bathrooms, the two of you stared down the corridor for a second before slowly turning to each other. 

"Are you a..."

"...zombie?" Your face started heating up as you said the word. "I-I swear I'm not! I don't know w-why that happened-" 

"Y-Y/N-chan, arms don't usually fall off..." Hinata gestured to his arm, shaking it to prove his point. "And you can't just reattach them without surgery..."

You rubbed your arm unconsciously. Was this what Otohime's foreboding riddles meant? Since you're technically dead, where were your friends? And your home? And your parents? _'Oh god, what happened in my old life?'_

Hinata gasped slightly. "Y/N-chan look!"

You glanced at your arm again, nothing had happened to it (you felt relief at the sight of it still being attached). Upon closer inspection, you saw your skin had begun to shift from S/C to a deep grey, skin peeled around the area you rubbed. The more you rubbed, the more your skin peeled away until you had created a large grey smudge.

S/C makeup. You knew this was Otohime's doing, she knew all along. 

_'An explanation would've been nice.'_ You thought to yourself as Hinata began to throw questions at you. 

"Are you gonna eat my brain?"

"No." Despite the circumstances, you still laughed at his frightened expression. 

"Can you take off your head?"

That was something you _didn't_ feel like doing at the moment. You shrugged. 

"How did you die?"

The big question. You didn't think there were any scars on your body, no indicators of murder. You weren't old either and you probably didn't have any diseases or health complications. "I-I don't know." In addition to this, you didn't remember anything from before yesterday. You lived a completely different life and couldn't remember anything from it. All of a sudden, the corridor seemed a lot larger and you felt much smaller. 

You were supposed to be six feet underground with probably your family and friends, whoever they were. _Shit,_ you couldn't even remember your loved ones, nothing at all. A pang of loneliness struck you in the chest, all you had now was some creepy stalker woman who kidnapped you.

Your trembling hands were slowly enveloped, sending a newfound warmth up your arms. Looking up, a pair of brown-orbs gazed determinedly back at you. "Y/N-chan, I promise to keep this a secret!" 

An unexpected smile crept onto your face, the warmth spilled into your chest. That was nice of him, maybe you weren't alone after all. 

As he began to pull you back to the gym, for a second, you thought you smelt the fleeting scent of cedarwood and smoke but decided not to investigate. You had enough on your mind already.

**Author's Note:**

> ok sorry i dont know how to use ao3 at all haha


End file.
